Corps Health Small Groups
“What is a Small Group?” We are drawn to Matthew 28:19-20 and 22:37,39 where Jesus gives us the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.
In Acts 2:42-47 we see that road map beginning to be lived out in the New Testament church:“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching(discipleship)and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe(worship)at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need(ministry).Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts(fellowship),praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number(evangelism)daily those who were being saved.”2000 years later the standard remains unchanged, it just may look a little different sitting on a couch in someone’s living room or in a fellowship hall in your local corps. If we are balancing discipleship, worship, ministry, fellowship, and evangelism in a healthy community that is a small group.
Christian Schwartz adds a new twist when he says that a small group is any group that meets which has between 3 and 17 people. In his new book The Three Colors of Community, he calls for these groups to become more holistic. Therefore, a band, songster, men’s club or women’s ministries might all meet the definition of a small group for Christian. While the main focus for these groups might be the activity they get together for, we still wonder if they could work on doing three things:
- Take time to worship together
- Take time to minister to each other
- Take time to reach out to new people
For Resources please go here http://www.library.armyconnection.org/
